it’s early morning, enjoying the soft light of the sunrise as it filters across the paddock. Appreciating the morning coolness before the day heats up, it’s going to be an another scorcher of a day, temperature is set to rise to 38C/100F

I am thankful…

that our boys were able to spend Christmas and the following two weeks at home with us this year. So delighted in having all our children together, watching them interact with each other, spending time with both of them, treasured memories. Admittedly we didn’t do half of what was on our ‘entertainment’ list the heat wave scorched those plans, though we still managed to fit in lots of dune buggy rides and squishing into our new paddock basher (Christmas present) and driving down to the dam for lots of swims

I am thinking…

I took a true sabbatical this Christmas season, I don’t think I’ve managed to ‘turn my brain off’ so completely before. Usually ‘to do’ lists and ‘I should be doing’ thoughts constantly flow through my mind. Feeling completely refreshed and only now beginning to turn my thoughts to the New Year and how this will look for us in regards to: health, personal growth, academics, creativity, family dynamics…

Learning all the time…

there’s still another three weeks of school holidays left, but as we began holidays early we’re starting back early, plan is to begin next week. Turning my thoughts over the next couple of days to writing goals and lesson plans for 2017. Michelangelo finishes his academics with us this year most likely around mid-year, so we need clarity to our vision

Celebrating the liturgical year……

committing to our whole family attending Confession more regularly in 2017. The difficulty with attending is the only times Confession is offered in our Parish is before the Friday midday Mass and the Saturday Vigil Mass and with seven of us to receive the Sacrament of Confession, this takes time and it just feels rushed, conscious we can’t take too long

From the kitchen…

as little as possible thanks to the heat wave, currently eating is a basic necessity and salads a frequent ‘staple’

I am creating…

the children’s yearly keepsakebooks. At the end of each year I bind all of our children’s academic and creative efforts into individual comb bound books, demonstrating to the children that their work is valued and taming the paper tiger. The children’s lessons are mostly written in spiral notebooks and any loose papers including artwork are hung in individual hanging folders throughout the year. This simplifies my task, I only need to remove papers from hanging folders, rip sheets from notebooks, print title pages and bind books. Not only do the children enjoy seeing their work showcased, this streamlines my preparations for when our Approved Person from the Board of Studies visits, showing our ‘work undertaken’ is a simple matter of showing him/her our previous years book, they always receive this approach with enthusiasm

I am working on…

participating in a 365 instagram challenge as a way to stretch myself with learning new photography skills this year. Mumtastic is running a #365mumtastic – Capture Your Year As A Mum with daily prompts. Picking up the camera each day has already seen me attempting new skills, I’m excited to share that daily I’m taking my camera off auto and learning how to use the manual and aperture settings

I am going…

to Park Run every week 🙂 Bright and early at 7am each Saturday you’ll find us; PC, Michelangelo(17), Jelly Bean(12) Jem(10) and I running 5km in our local park along with dozens of other crazy townsfolk. To be honest 5km seemed like a huge distance initially I wasn’t even sure I could manage it. However with a combination of running and walking I’ve managed to make it around five times thus far, improving my time most weeks and have even taken up running an extra couple of times a week. If you’re interested this event is held in various places around Australia and worldwide weekly

I am hoping…

to finally begin making photo books over the next couple of months, I’ve twelve years of photos to print! After lots of research and procrastinating I’ve finally decided on PhotobooksRus, now I just need to dive in. I also need to decide on and order photo albums, our previous 12 years of photos languish in a huge mess and need an attractive packaging. I declare this the year of photo organisation!

I am praying…

for my brother C and his fiancee, they are to be married this Saturday! Extra prayers for the bride to be, she came off her horse last week and may yet be hobbling up the aisle on crutches

for our three sons as they travel home for the Wedding, they’ll be driving all through the night arriving about 4am, obviously I’m rather nervous

for the intentions of our children: health, career paths, personal discernment…all the myriad prayers a mother pours into His ears in relation to our loved ones

for our friend’s daughter, her family still wait on the neurologist for test results regards her increasing epileptic seizures

for my friend’s health, she unintentionally stepped on a skateboard this week and was taken for an unexpected ride, she has torn ligaments and is in lots of pain

in thanksgiving for the many blessings in our life, so many, so grateful

I am pondering….

how ‘the glass half empty’ outlook can negatively impact much of a person’s life; relationships, homelife, career.. and they may not even be aware of the extent

The Family Nobody Wanted – Helen Doss The story of a couple who hunger for children and eventually adopt twelve children including inter-racial children. A story of love, joy and laughter, a book I periodically re-read every couple of yearsI am listening

to nothing at present, there’s only so much time in the day and my first recreational choice is always reading. Goodreads records indicate I read at least 420 books last year, I guess I could carve some time off reading for listening…

I am hearing…

silence. The household is asleep and for once the rooster is not crowing, nor the kookaburras chuckling up a chorus

I am struggling…

not at all. The sabbatical I took over Christmas has left me feeling completely refreshed and mellow 🙂

Clicking around…

I’ve a back log of posts waiting in feedly, ones I want to ponder, real gems

slowly ‘picking up the reins’ and returning to a regular homemaking rotinue after enjoying two weeks of holiday mode. Catching up on a backlog of washing as the washing machine died, a chain was caught in the motor. PC took the motor out, repaired it and managed to get the machine working again. I’m starting to believe there is nothing he can’t turn his hand to successfully. We’ve also been refreshing our building ‘to do’ list, planning what project we’ll next undertake. First up for the summer season is to finish laying the floorboards throughout the house, just waiting for some cooler weekends

One of my favorite things…

obviously having all our children home for Christmas and the two weeks following!! Slow, lazy days together, just being. On the 12th Day of Christmas, my family gifted me with our annual family Christmas photo shoot and were all were rather good natured about it. Our Christmas photos are often my favourite photos of the year and hopefully this might even be the year I get them all printed and hung

A few plans for this week…

Anna Maria and I are attending a tri-annual book sale in a nearby town on Friday. This is a sale we regularly attend where children’s books are free and adults are only $6 a bag!

My brother’s Wedding on Saturday, the temperature is predicated to be 40C/104F, thankfully it’s a casual dress code, we shouldn’t be too hot. All my siblings and their spouses will be there, all fifteen grandchildren, will be fun

A little peek at my day…

cleaning all three bathrooms, always vowing to be more diligent with this task, always failing

our library needs a little tidying, a little culling, particularly if I’ll be bringing new books home Friday 😉